The battle of Preston took place on 17 August 1648. It was part of the

Second English Civil War, which began with a series of mutinies and

Royalist uprisings. The Scots raised an army under the command of James,

Duke of Hamilton, which marched into England to support King Charles I.

It combined with English Royalists and continued south some 24,000

strong. Oliver Cromwell concentrated 9,000 Parliamentarians in north

Yorkshire and fell on the flank of the much larger Royalist army. Not

anticipating this reckless assault, Hamilton was caught with his army

dispersed. A blocking force of Royalist infantry was outflanked after a

ferocious hour-long fight. A second round of prolonged infantry hand-to-

hand fighting took place for control of the bridge south of Preston

(pictured); the Parliamentarians fought their way across as night fell.

In total 1,000 Royalists were killed and 4,000 captured; Parliamentary

casualties were low. (This article is part of a featured topic:

Scottish invasion of England (1648).).

Read more:

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1560:

The Scottish Reformation Parliament approved a Protestant

confession of faith, initiating the Scottish Reformation and

disestablishing Catholicism as the national religion.

1907:

Pike Place Market, one of the oldest continuously operated

public farmers' markets in the U.S. and a popular tourist attraction,

opened in Seattle, Washington.

1950:

Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war were massacred

by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.

2008:

Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal of the Summer Olympics

in Beijing, setting the record for the most gold medals won by an

athlete at a single games.

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Wiktionary's word of the day:

traffic island:

1. (chiefly UK, road transport) A raised or otherwise marked area in a

roadway from which traffic is excluded, so as to direct the traffic flow

and provide a safe place for pedestrians to wait while crossing the

road.

2. (rail transport, obsolete, rare) An area where rail traffic is low.

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Wikiquote quote of the day:

  Dark to me is the earth. Dark to me are the heavens. Where is

she that I loved, the woman with eyes like stars? Desolate are the

streets. Desolate is the city. A city taken by storm, where none are

left but the slain.  

--Wilfrid Scawen Blunt

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